Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1887-01-31
A GLORIOUS FRAUD.
DR.. TALNAGE ASKS If THE CHRISTIAN
RELIGION Is A CHEAT
The Eloquent Divine Proceeds to Beat the lnhdel'
With Their Own 0lubs-Ths Millions Who
Are Deceived and Who Praise
God For Being So.

Talmage, d. d., baptized by immersion
number of persons who preferred thai
mode, as, on the Sunday previous, he haC
baptized by sprinkling those who so de
sired. Professor Browne, the Organist
rendered the Sonata in c minor by Rhein
berger. The opening hymn, sung by the
whole congregation, was that beginning
20 happy day that fixed my choice
On Thee, my Savior and my God"
After reading another list of those who
during the week had united with the
church Dr. Talmase discussed the subject
"Is the Christian Religion Cheat?" His
text was: 'He made his arrows bright,
he consulted with images, he looked in the
liver. Ezekiel II: 2l. The preacher
said
TWO MODES OF DIVINATlOS
by which the King of Babylon proposed tC
find out the will of God. He took q
bundle of arrows, put them together, mix
ed them up, then pulled forth one, and by
the inscription Oh it decided what city he
should first assault. Then an animal was
slain, and by the lighter or darker color
of the liver, the brighter or darker pros,
poets of success was inferred. That is the
meaning of the text: 'He made his arrows
bright, he consulted with images, he look,
ell into the liver"
Stupid deluSiOn And yet all the ages
have been filled with delusions. 1t seems
the dclusiOn of the text only specimen
OF a vast number of deceitS practiced upon
the human race. In the latter part of the
last century, Johanna Sauthcote
came forth pretending to have
divine power, made prophecies.
had chapels built in her honor, and one
hundred thousand disciples came forth to
follow her. About five years before the
birth of Christ, Appollonius was born, and
aud he crme forth, and after five years
being speechless, according to the tradi-
| ton, he healed the sick and raised the
dead, and preached virtue, and, accord
ing to the myth, having deceased, was
brought to resurrection.
THE DELPHIC ORACLE
| deceiN ed vast multitudeS of people; the
PythOncSs, seated in the Temple of
Apollo, uttering a crazy jargon from which
i 81 nnl Ar
national fortunes or mistortunes. The
utterances were OF such nature that you
could read them any way you wanted to
read them. 4 general going forth TO hat
tie, consulte the Delphic Oracle and he
wanted TO find out whether he was going
To he safe in the battle, or
killed in the bettlc, and the answer
came forth from the Delphic Oracle,
in such works that, if you put the comma
before the word ''never,' it means one
thing, and If you put the comma after the
word "nevCr," it means another thing
just opposite. The message from the
| Delphic Oracle to the General was: Go
forth, return never in battle shalt thou
perish" If he was killed, that was ac-
cOrding to the Delphic Oracle; if he came
home safely, that was according to the
Delphic Oracle. SO the ancient augurieS,
By the. flight Of birds, or by the intOnation
Of thunder, or by the inside appearance OF
slain animals, told the fortunes or mis-
fortunes of individuals or nations.
The sibyls deceived the people. The
shyls were supposed to he inspired
women who lived in caves and who wrote
the sibyline books, atterward purchased
by Tarquin the Proud. So late rs
the year 1929, man arose in New
York. pretending to be divine being and
playing his part so well that wealthy mer,
chants became his disciples and threw
their fortunes into his diScipleship, And
so in all ages, there have been necrOman,
cies, incantatiops, witchcraits, sorCeries,
magical arts, entertainments, divinatiOns
and delusiOns. The one of the text was
only specimen of that which has been
transpiring in all ages of the world. None
of these delusionS accomplished any good.
They deceived, they pauperized the peo-
pie, they were rs cruel as they were alb
surd. They opened no hospitals, they
healed no wounds, they wiped away nc
tears, they cmancipated no sertdom.
|
these delusiOus combined are as nothing
compared with the delusiOn now abroad
in the world, the delusiOn of the Christian
religion. That delusion has to-day
TWO HUNDRED MILLION DUPES.
It proposes to encircle the earth with it
girdle That which has been called de.
lusiOn has already OvershadOwed the Ap,
palachian range on this side the sea. and il
has ovcrshadowed the Balkan and eau,
Casian ranges on the other side the sea. Ii
has conquered England and the United
States. This champion delusiOn, this hoax,
this swindle Of the ages, rs it has been
called has gone forth to conquer the
islands of the Pacific; the Melanasia and
the Micronesia and Malayan Polynesia
have already surrendered to the delusion.
Yea, it has conquered the Indian Archipel.
ago; and BOrneO and Sumatra and Celebes
and Java have fallen under its wiles. In
the Fiji Islands, where there are l20, ,0OC
people. 103, 900 have already become the
dupes of this Christian religion, and il
! thinge 20 on as they are now going on, aud
if the infuente OF this great hallucinatiOn
of the ages cannot be stopped, it will swal,
low the earth. Supposing, then, that
Christianity is the delusion of the centur-
les, as some have pronounced il, propose
this morning to show you what has been
accomplished by this chimera, this fallacy,
this hoax, this swindle of the ages.
And in the first place, remark, that this
deluSion of the Christian religion
HAS MADE WONDERFUL TRASSFORNIA-
TioNs
of human character. ] will 90 down the
aisle OF any church in Christendom, and /
will find on either side that aisle those who
were once prohigate profane, unclean OF
speech, and unclean of action, drunken
and lost. But by the power of this delu-
sion of the Christian religion they have
been completely transformed, and now
they are kind and amiable and genial and
loving and useful. Everybody sees the
change. Under the power of this great
hallucination they have quit their former
associates. and whereas they once found
their chiefdelightamongt those who gambled
and swOre and raced horses, now they find
their chief joy among those who go to
prayer meetings and churches; so complete